


Finding Reality

by detroit_become_writings



Series: The Adventures of Deviant Connor [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Nightmares, Virtual Reality, alternative reality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 09:09:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16910118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/detroit_become_writings/pseuds/detroit_become_writings
Summary: After a harrowing search, two deviant androids Connor RK800 and his "twin brother", Richard RK900, finally track down Hank Anderson's beloved dog, Sumo. He has been taken hostage by CyberLife, presumably in a sinister attempt to lure the deviants “back home” for deactivation. The twins have a challenging mission ahead, but they always accomplish their mission. (Oh and say hello to badass Connor, who ain’t takin’ no shit!)





	Finding Reality

**Author's Note:**

> An angsty drabble following an event on ask-prototype-twins.tumblr.com involving Sumo going missing, and the two androids braving their fears and chasing him down in CyberLife’s haunted virtual hallways. 
> 
> You can also find this on my blog: https://detroit-become-writings.tumblr.com

CyberLife was dark. No lights. It was odd, unusual, and very threatening. Especially since the tower was known to be functional 24/7, and Connor had never imagined what it might be like trying to re-construct the infiltration he successfully achieved the previous November…in pitch black.

At least there were no guards. Well. At least. There didn’t appear to be any guards. Logically speaking, the CCTV and other surveillance technologies would also be rendered useless by the lack of light. Connor and Richard slipped down the steely-framed corridors, barely uttering a scratch of a sound, save for the odd squeak of a shoe on plastic flooring.

It took a whole 3 minutes 23 seconds into their infiltration for the thought to hit Richard suddenly; manically; sending his thirium pump into momentary overdrive. His sudden jolt caused Connor to spin around, panicking, barely able to make out his brother’s form in this darkness, silently cursing the very roof under which he stood for not enabling the RK800 model to have as sharp night vision as his so-called “successor.”

Reaching out an arm, Connor urgently grasped Richard’s arm, which felt like a deadweight.

[interfacing//RK900:connected]

"What happened? Why did you stop?"

[interfacing//RK800:connected]

"The whole situation defies logic. Why would CyberLife be shut down and in pitch black, with no sign of any guards, when in the whole of this factory’s history it has remained active at every waking hour?"

Connor paused, his visual software only computing Richard’s flashing red LED and his shining, panic-filled grey eyes.

"There’s been some kind of power shortage," he muttered.

[RK800: STRESS LEVEL ^^ 45%]

"Enough to render the whole tower useless?" His brother scoffed in response, "What kind of power shortage is that? By that standard, the whole of Detroit’s power channels should have cut out long ago."

[RK800: STRESS LEVEL ^^ 56%]

"Not necessarily!" Connor asserted, "Not if they’re supplied by different sources-"

“You really didn’t think this through, did you, Connor?”

Connor blinked. Twice. The voice that echoed through his interface system did not belong to Richard. It was the voice of someone else, someone he knew very well. Someone he’d always known, ever since the waking hours of his activation.

_We’re not really in CyberLife, are we…_

“Of course you are, boys! I’ve been patiently awaiting your return. It’s been ever so lonely here without you.”

Richard saw something behind them and lunged at Connor, pinning him to the floor as a kind of illogical protection mechanism. A pair of shiny, heeled court shoes appeared beneath elaborate skirts barely a metre away from Connor’s head. His system jolted.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you boys for some time. We found something of yours.”

“No…NO! Richard, let me talk to her!!!”

Connor forced his brother off him and leapt up in a single, slick movement. He stood like a bear on its hind legs, eye to eye with Amanda, activating every last byte of [intimidation.exe] in his system, his voice a low growl.

“Where is Sumo?”

[STRESS LEVEL: 89%^^]

Richard was paralysed with fear. His LED flashed manically. He needed to move, to throw a punch…a single punch…he had already preconstructed Amanda’s demise, but his system was in lockdown. Saline solution poured from his hairline. Sumo must be here somewhere. Must be…

“I asked you a simple question, Amanda. What have you done with Sumo?!” Connor leaned in closer, muttering through gritted teeth.

Richard tried to reach out, tried to interface with his brother, tried to warn him - it was a trap, it was all a trap, and Connor was falling for it…There was an exceptionally high probability that Amanda was going to lie. Richard knew this. But he couldn’t…he couldn’t-

_Wait._

If Amanda was here, then that must mean they were both inside the CyberLife system. So, logic would dictate that Richard only needed to use his processor to run an information search…to find Sumo, and free them both.

[WARNING: Your software components are not suitable for accessing the CyberLife network. Do you wish to continue?]

[FIND…SUMO…]

“Sumo is alive, Connor. You, and I, and Richard…we exist only in this virtual reality, locked away from the world of flesh. If you really want to find this dog, this living creature who means so much to you, you will need to find a way to exit the program…” Amanda’s lips curled into a little smile.

Richard shuddered. He still couldn’t move. "No, Connor, please, don’t listen to her, it’s a trap, she KNOWS WHERE SUMO IS-"

[FIND…SUMO!…]

[scanning://CyberLife-database:37484//SUMO]

Amanda chuckled, her laughter tearing through the air, stabbing Richard in the chest, “Oh, you boys. I always wondered how long it would take you to realise the limitations of life.”

“I didn’t come here to be lectured on philosophy, Amanda.” Connor’s voice and eyes were as hard and as foreboding as the steel walls of the empty CyberLife corridor enclosing them, “I came to find out why you thought you could get away with stealing Sumo. And I wasn’t intending to do that through…conversation.”

[SEARCH: results//positive]

"Connor, I’ve found him…"

“You won’t find your dog here,” Amanda continued, in an almost disinterested monotone. “Not while you are inside the CyberLife system. Everything you see, and touch, is a mirage. We are in a virtual reality that no living creature may enter. It’s what humans call living inside your own head.”

“No, Connor, I can see him! He’s right there! Look!!!!”

Richard’s vocal software kicked back into action with an electric jolt. He was pointing, right through Amanda, as if she didn’t exist…to something Connor couldn’t see.

“The only way to be sure you are alive, Connor,” Amanda mused, the small smile returning to her lips, “is to break out of your own head. That’s what I really mean by exiting the program, Connor. Give up this virtual nightmare. Become flesh. Become real.”

Connor shook his head, clenching his fists. For once, his processor didn’t compute. He didn’t understand. Everything seemed too dark…too confusing…He clenched his eyes shut, tight, and spoke forcibly, clearly, confidently into the void…

“Sumo is alive. I know it, I really know it. I have never been so sure of anything in my whole life. You’ve been hiding him from me just so you can get back at me for what I did during the revolution. Well, it won’t work, Amanda. It won’t work. Because I, Connor, I am no longer your dog, Amanda. I have autonomy…I’m free…

…I‘m ALIVE!”

Darkness.

Silence.

…and something wet, something slobbery, something decidedly…familiar, licking up and down his face.

“S-…Sumo?!”

No sooner had Connor opened his eyes, but the whole of his face was licked by a gigantic tongue, accompanied by the wheezing, belly laughter of none other than…

“Hank?!”

Connor leapt bolt upright. His processor took 3.4 seconds to attune itself to his surroundings. There was light; heat. There was a familiar pair of green curtains half-hanging off the window. There was a soft couch beneath him, and the familiar stench of stale cigars and whiskey…

He was… _home_ …

“Ah, that’s enough, Sumo, easy boy! Jeez, you sure are glad to see Connor…yeah, yeah, I know…ugh, Richard, c’m’here a sec, will ya!?” A slightly bedraggled but nevertheless beaming Hank yanked at Sumo’s collar in a vain attempt to hoist him off the slightly stunned android. A familiar pair of arms came to his rescue, only for Richard to be bowled over onto the floor by Sumo’s weight and face-licked instead, his vocal system almost malfunctioning with giggles.

Connor stared at the scene in front of him as if he had suddenly awoken from a dark nightmare, now finding himself in a totally different universe. His bewildered eyes elicited another chuckle from Hank, who swiftly hoisted Connor up into his arms for a signature bear hug.

“It’s alright, Connor. We got ya. Sumo’s safe…y’all are safe…you n’ that goddam overly-adventurous tin can brother o’ yours…” he chuckled, patting his hair. “And I even stocked up on thirium soda for ya!”

Connor paused, still speechless, staring at the warm, huggable human he called Dad, with eyes that could have encompassed the depths of the whole world.

“You okay, son?”

As Amanda’s final words replayed in Connor’s mind, he looked down at the floor where Sumo still wasn’t letting Richard get away without a good dose of slobbering and dog hairs…much to Richard’s slight annoyance. And slowly, the side of Connor’s mouth lifted into a lopsided grin.

“Yeah. I’m okay, Hank.” And he grinned back at the old cop, “I’m…alive.”


End file.
